Nutshells
by sophiesix
Summary: Summaries of the Seeking Soul series of stories so you know where to start and what you've missed if you skip one :
1. 1 Seeking Souls

**~ Nutshells ~**

Summaries of the _Seeking Soul_ series of stories so you know where to start and what you've missed if you skip one :)

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**1. Seeking Souls**

Seeker Hungry Flame has been hunting a wild human, Alex, for a week, when she decides to stop hunting and try luring him in. Her plan works, but his capture goes wrong, and she has to chase with through the night. Finally, she manages to half drown him and end the chase. But still he has enough energy to flip the tables once more, stealing her pendant and discovering the existence of her human son, Bhaskar. Alex forces her to take him to her son. She knows he is planning on kidnapping him, but she hopes to be able to trap him in the city. And she can't argue with gun pointed at her. But they have both underestimated the effects of their fight, and he realises Flame's head injury requires a detour to the emergency ward when she blacks out. Fixed and high on No Pain, she takes him to her home, always conscious of her gun in his hands.

Distracted whilst he is playing with her son, Flame gets her gun from him and goes to turn him in, but Bhask begs her not to. Seeing the similarities between them, she realises she is unable to do her job, and releases Alex back to the wild.

Finding it increasingly hard to fit in in the Soul city, and fearing Bhask will not be allowed to grow up unimplanted, she then sets out finding a wild home for her son, but can't get the humans to trust her, or Bhask to leave her. Then she sees a news report: Alex has been recaptured. Knowing her failure will be revealed when he is implanted, she races to free him. By employing her knowledge of the system and her Seeker skills of lies and deception, she breaks him out, and they set out to find his people and a possible future for Bhask.

On meeting Alex's father, Flame discovers that she, like them, has First Nation heritage, and that her family is still alive and free. When they find the secretive human group, Flame is immersed in wild human life, and struggles to find where she belongs. She becomes closer to Alex and a new friend Dorsey, and together they begin to work on a plan to bring humans and Souls closer together without imperilling either. Their plans are disrupted by the arrival of Flame's parents. They tell her of her human past, that of Burning Lights, the daughter they thought dead. Burning lights walked off into a snowstorm during a seeker attack after hearing that her lover was killed by the Seekers. Her parents assure Flame that their daughter still lives on inside her. Flames is horrified by the thought, as she has never had any human memories, no pictures of home or people, she thinks it is impossible. But her parents tell her Burning Lights was blind. Profoundly disturbed by this news, Flame becomes closer to Alex and tries to ignore her parents, concentrating on who she knows she is, rather than who she fears she might have inside her. Alex assures her she is no one but herself.

Preparations for the "Human Voice" project are well underway when the first fall of snow comes with a tragic accident: Bhask falls into the river and nearly drowns. He is saved, but becomes deathly ill, and Flame is faced with losing everything that she has ever wanted. With her family's help, Bhask recovers, and that spring Alex, Bhask and Flame set out to track down the other human groups. However, not all the human groups are receptive to the idea, especially as there is a Soul involved. Flame and Bhask camp by themselves in a desert canyon while Alex tries to convince them.

One day, Flame is woken by a scream and finds Bhask's body in a pool at the base of a waterfall, Seekers dragging him away, and a bushfire on her heels. She manages to shelter under a rock ledge, where Alex finds her badly burnt once the fire has passed, and takes her back to the humans cave to look after her. The humans want her dead, blaming her for the fire that many of their people have died in, and Alex struggles to protect her. She realises they will kill him to get to her, and leaves, hoping the Souls will find her before her wounds get too bad.

Recovering in a Soul hospital, Flame is devastated by Bhask's loss, and wants only to shut out the world. But reviewing the footage Alex has shot, she is reminded of her duty, and of her family. She manages to recover enough to get herself back home to her human family.


	2. 2 Light through Darkness

**2. Light through Darkness**

Flame, Alex, Dorsey, and two human friends, Eddy and Henry, are out collecting more footage for the Human Voice project. Flame is still staggering under the burden of grief she feels for Bhask's loss, and can't interact with Alex: he reminds her of her son. Her defence is to ignore him, which is leaving Alex feeling increasingly alienated. One night while driving down a snowy road, Flame and Eddy are involved in a car accident that leaves Eddy and the other driver dead and Flame trapped in the car and close to death. Reluctantly, Dorsey, Alex, and Henry must leave her as the Healer ambulance vehicles are coming.

Flame wakes in the Healing Centre to be faced by a Healer she has never met but who seems strangely familiar. Falling Smoke's surgical competence has saved her life and her legs, and he keeps a close eye on her progress whilst being very interested in finding out more about her. She can only think of refinding the others before they leave her behind. At last Falling Smoke pronounces her fit enough to leave hospital and returns her to her hotel room. There she is reunited with Dorsey, Alex, and Henry. They are suspicious of Flame's new Soul friend, Alex particularly so. When he finds her implantation scar has been renewed, his suspicions are confirmed.

Flame arranges for Falling Smoke to meet her at the hotel, confronting him with Alex's discovery, he assures her it is standard protocol in case the Host dies, and assures her he only wants to help.

True to his word, he amasses a store of Soul drugs and equipment for them, but when Flame goes to pick them up, Alex insists on accompanying her and holds Falling Smoke up at gun point over a misunderstanding. Dorsey is furious that he has compromised Flame by showing himself to another Soul. Alex insist no harm has been done. They move on to talk to a human group led by Foreks that has requested them to visit.

But the request is a trap: their real target is to enslave Flame. They keep Dorsey, Alex, and Henry hostage to make Flame do their will. Flame escapes and rescues the others, but Alex has been badly beaten trying to get to her. They arrange a meeting with Falling Smoke at a distant campground. Dorsey and Henry hide while Falling Smoke examines Alex, but when Flames agrees to let him take Alex into the Healing Centre they show themselves to stop her. Outvoted, they stay at the campground, Falling Smoke staying to monitor his patient. In the morning, Alex is worse, and this time the others agree to let him be taken. Scans reveal internal injuries that will heal with rest, however a local human group advise them that Foreks men are active in the area and they must move to safety. They offer their camp as an option, in return for Falling Smoke seeing to their people, that Foreks has shot. Falling Smoke agrees, much to Alex's dismay. Flame is concerned that they can't guarantee his safety, so he promises to leave as soon as possible. Margie's people are saved by Falling Smoke's quick thinking and emergency skills, and true to his word, he leaves as soon as his work is done. Later that afternoon, Seekers search the area, but Flame assures them nothing is amiss. Flame, Dorsey, and Henry are burning for revenge on Foreks, but Alex refuses to endorse a plan that will needlessly endanger their lives. No one can come with a good enough plan until Falling Smoke offers them the use of Seeker issue heat-seeking goggles: they can disguise themselves as Seekers and chase Forek's people away.

But during the hunt, Foreks manages to catch Flame and Alex separate from the group, and shoots Flame at the same time as Alex shoots him. Having no cryotank, Falling Smoke can't promise that Flame will live, so Alex makes him implant her into him. Here, Flame sees flashes of his memories, including many of Bhask. She awakes in her own body with renewed understanding for Alex's perspective of the last few months, and his place in her past and future. Alex is disturbed by what has happened though, and in the images he has seen in her mind. He finally realises the depth of grief she feels over Bhaskar, and his part in renewing it. After recovering properly in hospital, Flame can at last refind Dorsey, Henry and Alex. But Alex is distant. Flame proposes a test: she feels no attraction for the idea of kissing Falling Smoke, and wants Alex to try kissing her, as an experiment. He obliges until he realises she is just tricking him into kissing her, and realises she has chosen him over Falling Smoke.


	3. 3 Messages in the Grass

**3. Messages in the grass**

Back at Dorsey's home camp, an image of Falling Smoke causes consternation. He is not just any old host; he was Burning Light's lover. They return to confront Falling Smoke about this. He admits he has his Host's memories of Burning Lights, and insists that Flame's body remembers him too. She tells him he is wrong. He invites her to go to the opera to meet an influential Soul, Melts Blue Ice, who might be useful to their project of improving things for the humans. Flame is suspicious of his true motives, but agrees to go with him. The opera is Turandot, and she cannot stomach the torture scene, it reminds her too much of the violence she has seen in the past. Falling Smoke likewise reacts badly to it. they escape to a café until the opera finishes, then make their rendezvous with Melts Blue Ice. He has just had a human daughter, and is appalled by the idea of anyone implanting her. He wants a meeting between humans and Souls to progress the issue. Falling Smoke has been a near perfect gentleman the whole trying evening, and as the return home, he tells Flame that he will wait for her: he will outlive Alex by eons, after all.

Dorsey, Alex, Flame, and Henry go to work figuring out a plan for humans and souls to meet. They can make contact with all the human groups except the one in the desert that tried to kill Flame after the fire. Then they get a chance to send them a friendly messenger, if they can catch him in time. Falling Smoke returns to let Alex know their plan, and Dorsey and Flame catch up with the messenger, then return home. They find Falling Smoke nursing a bruised face and Alex locked in the basement. Hearing of their plan, Alex tried to go after them. When Falling Smoke tried to stop him, Alex punched him. So Falling Smoke lured and locked him in the basement, where Alex has been furiously pounding on the door ever since. Remembering his fear of being trapped, Dorsey and Flame rush to release him, but Alex is so worked up he can think of nothing past getting out of the Soul city and into the wilds again. Flame is appalled by his violence, and questioning the future of their relationship. He can only promise to try harder, and uneasily she accepts his compromise.

Henry works out a radio based communications system for the humans, and they return to Falling Smoke's house to construct the units. Alex and Falling Smoke call a truce.

At last the day of the congress arrives. Flame is flat out worrying over every last detail and starts to think she hears and sees hallucinations of Bhask. But then she realises it is really him – except that he has been implanted with a Soul. The congress votes to stop implantation of wild humans, but keeps the implantation of Soul born children to the parent's discretion. It means there is now nowhere to put the Soul living in Bhask.

That night, Flame's worries are interrupted by disaster: a human, Kelly, sets fire to the sleeping camp. Many, Soul and human alike, are badly burnt, including Dorsey, and a troublesome human called Blackheath. He is refusing Soul treatment, but will die if he does not accept them. Flame gets him to agree to treatment by showing them how they work on Dorsey first. Still, he refuses to be taken to the Healing Centre, so Flame, Bhask, and a young healer called Shepherds Sound remain in the desert to heal him there. As Blackheath heals, he learns more about Flame and Bhask, but as soon as he is able, he steals their supplies and leaves them in the desert. Flame uses the radio system to get Alex to pick them up, and no harm is done except to Shepherds Sound's faith in humanity.

When Dorsey is sufficiently recovered to go home, Flame tricks Alex, Dorse, and Bhask to going on ahead, while Flame remains behind with Falling Smoke. But as soon as they leave, she heads south to track down Kelly. In doing so she gets captured herself, and is held with a large group of souls in Kelly's cave complex. Alex and Falling Smoke realise her intentions and lead a group of Seekers to find her. The other Souls are saved but Flame has been bolted to the floor for being unruly. Alex stays with her as Kelly approaches, triggering memories of Flame's last mate Icefire, and his death under similar circumstances. She begs him to leave but he refuses. Kelly arrives ready to kill them, but Falling Smoke is hot on her heels. He shoots her as she turns to shoot him. Kelly dies and Flame is frantic; Falling Smoke's Host is dying. Alex makes her implant him into himself. Alex wakes as Falling Smoke, but is struggling. They make it out, but at the Healing Centre, alex/falling smoke becomes non responsive. Flame is desperate that she has killed them both, and is not sure who she wants to survive. Bhask's soul decides to go off world. Falling Smoke wakes, and Flame is devastated, realising she wanted Alex. Falling Smoke decides to go off world too, and leave Alex to Flame. He does so, however Alex still won't wake, damaged by Falling Smoke's damaged mind. At last he wakes, and Flame tells him the story of Icefire.


End file.
